Lou Ann Dunn, 84, passed away Sunday, February 2, 2025. She was born July 20, 1940, in Wamego, KS to Thomas A. McKinnon and Mildred Kitchener McKinnon.
Following graduation from Manhattan High School, she went on to graduate from Kansas State University with a B.S. degree in Education and the University of Kansas with a M.S. degree in Education. She was a member of Phi Beta Phi sorority.
On August 8, 1963, she married First Lieutenant Thomas D. Dunn at Danforth Chapel on the Kansas State campus. While Tom was serving in Korea, she lived in Leavenworth, KS, where she taught school at Fort Leavenworth. After his return they lived in Lawton, OK, and El Paso, TX, before returning to Manhattan, KS. She taught school in Manhattan while Tom was finishing his military service commitment in Vietnam and at Fort Riley. After Tom completed his service, they moved to Salina, KS.
Lou Ann was an owner of La Hacienda Restaurant for 37 years, and a founding owner with Marj Morrow of Artful Parties and Events. Among their first events was décor for a speech by First Lady Barbara Bush when she spoke at the Salina Chamber of Commerce banquet held at the Salina Bicentennial Center (now Tony’s Pizza Event Center). The article in the Salina Journal quoted Mrs. Bush, “When you have an event this size look so good, you’ve really done something!”
As a florist and event designer she received awards and acknowledgments in several publications. Two of her invitation designs received awards from Special Event Magazine. A photograph of another one of her designs was featured in Special Event Magazine. She was a Master Bridal Consultant and Certified Balloon Artist. One of the things Lou Ann liked to say was that she was attracted to bright and shiny objects.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Salina and had served on the church’s Board of Trustees. She was also on the boards of Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, Counseling and Growth and the Board of Visitors at Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State. She was a member of Chapter ED of the PEO Sisterhood.
Lou Ann’s survivors are her two children: Shanna Dunn-Vigare (Sam Vigare), Topeka, KS, and Thomas A. Dunn, Colorado Springs, CO; three grandchildren, Isaac and Eliana Dunn and Lucy Vigare and her brother, Paul McKinnon, Salina. She was proceeded in death by her husband of 60 years, Thomas (Tom) Dunn.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 13, 2025, at the First Presbyterian Church, Salina. Burial will be in the Gypsum Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Salina Symphony, First Presbyterian Church of Salina or Salina Animal Services.
The family would like to offer special thanks to Lora Reinke, Jenn Johnson, Amanda Randolph and nurse Yvonne Sowers for their extraordinary efforts in caring for Lou Ann in her final days.